Barça’s loss is our gain says Mourinho

Jose Mourinho says that Barcelona’s loss is Chelsea’s gain, referring to the signing of Cesc Fàbregas.

The Portuguese manager also mentioned he was shocked that Barcelona let the midfielder leave the Nou Camp. Pundits were suggesting that Cesc might not be cut out for the holding midfield role he has at Chelsea but Mourinho says that Fàbregas’ versatility is a huge asset to the club.

It was England coach Gary Neville who suggested that Cesc may not be up to the job and lack discipline to play in the important matches. Mourinho though, is amazed that he was allowed to leave for £27M.

Mourinho’s side certainly made life difficult for Manchester City on Sunday and tensions were heated especially with Diego Costa and City’s Zabaleta, who eventually got shown the red card in one of the spats with the big Chelsea forward.

Mourinho said about Fàbregas: “I thought he was going to stay at Barcelona. I was looking at him as the natural successor of players that were getting older, like Xavi. The surprise for me was not that he didn’t go to Arsenal, but that he was leaving Barcelona.”

“He’s 27 and it’s the perfect age. Physically he’s on a high, mentally, he’s very stable, he has tactical education.”

Speaking about Gary Neville’s comments, Mourinho added: “Gary Neville’s a very good pundit. Not because of this specific comment about Cesc. He analyses things well. It’s easier to be a pundit after the match than before it.”

Chelsea snatched a goal after Zabaleta got sent off and it looked like going all Chelsea’s way until Manuel Pellegrini brought on ex Chelsea player Frank Lampard who equalised for his new interim team before going to play in America for City owned New York City FC.